9/02/2009 @ 2:00PM

Health Is Of National Interest

Tony Benn’s name is synonomous with Socialist politics. One of Britain’s longest-serving politicians, he has vehemently stood up for the country’s National Health Service time and again, and was in government in 1948 when health minister Nye Bevan introduced the system. Here he lays out his case for a completely state-run health care system.

Forbes: In the debate between public and private health care, who wins and why?

Tony Benn: I only know in detail the British system and I know the American system, which is that they don’t have a system. Forty-seven million people in America don’t have health insurance and in Britain, everyone is covered. That’s the difference. For people in the U.S. it’s a very frightening thing to get ill. I think our system is a good one. If I’m an American trying to introduce it through Congress I’d have to start by accepting that this one is achieving its objective is to take the anxiety out of illness. That’s what the [NHS's introductory] government paper said in 1948, that it would take anxiety out of ill heath.

What do you make of Obama’s proposals for health care reform?

I think the health of the nation is of national interest. If people are ill in a country then everyone is affected. In America they accept that education is of the national interest and they have tax payers funding education. They don’t call it socialized education, but it is. They have socialized police, who are paid for by the tax payer, fire brigades, and so on, and it seems to me that that’s the way you should respond to the needs of a nation. And that’s the principle on which I’ve used the health service from the very beginning

What has been your experience of Britain’s [state-run] National Health Service?

It’s been brilliant. I had a little operation a month ago and was there for four or five days. I had a pace maker put in and it was absolutely fine. I have hearing aides which work very well. My wife died of cancer nine years ago. She was ill for four years and had absolutely supreme health care during that period. You have to go by your own experience.

What do you think of Obama’s idea of introducing a government-run plan to compete with private insurance, and not replace it?

He’s trying to make progress and I don’t want to criticize. But health is not something you [can bring competition] into. If your neighbor is healthy, you’re more likely to be healthy. It’s one of those issues where everyone benefits from everyone’s condition.

Isn’t there a danger that a public health care system can become too politicized? The NHS has turned into something of a political punching for the opposition party here.

The NHS was created by political debate. You have to remember that if people hadn’t campaigned for it year after year, it wouldn’t have been created. You elect somebody and decide over matter of national policy to provide a service that becomes a part of the normality of life. You could say having a police or fire brigade has controversial government interference. I don’t see it that way. I think governments have to respond to the needs of their people. If there’s a big crime wave then the government says, “We have to deal with this.”

Some say there is a danger that with a monopolistic public health care system like the NHS, private providers can be pushed out and people can become too reliant on the public system.

I think people look at it rather differently. Here’s a very serious need, and how is it being met? If it’s being met, they’re not going to need. If you’re wealthy you can get on a plane and go to New York. If your health is good that’s your right and your concern. For parents who have children, they’re not looking at it in terms of competition with private health care.

But isn’t there also a risk that government influence in health care can create bureaucracy, stifling innovation and the adoption of new medical technologies?

The main thing is that people’s medical needs are met. When I go to a hospital, it’s not the government that looks after me, it’s a nurse and doctor, who are funded for that purpose by the National Health Service. And there’s bureaucracy in the private sector as well, and all big organizations tend to be bureaucratic.

Which country do you admire most for its health system?

I can’t claim to be an expert. All I can say is that I remember when the National Health Service was coming in. I was in Parliament with health minister [and founder of the NHS] Nye Bevan, and I think it has worked very well. When Mrs. Thatcher said the NHS was “safe in our hands,” it was recognition by her that people liked it and wanted it to be saved.

What do you say to people who say the NHS is a socialistic system?

I don’t see it in ideological terms. I know in America there are a lot of people, including my wife who is American, who have been denied medical care because they lost their jobs. I worry for them, and I see in this country that there are no anxieties of this character. That’s how I see it–in a very practical way.